Reflecting products in cement conglomerate and the process for their manufacture



I v Filed June a, 196s AR y.nmlmglg LE REFLEcTmG PROD ,Ts 1N THE PROCESS FOR THEIR RANUPACTURE 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 om v3,417,676 CEMENT CONC-LOHEHATE ARD A e m..1.-. NNN...

R. LENABLE" l zimmern;

Dec. 24, 1968 nEFLBcrmG Paonuc'rs nl CEMENT coNGLonam'rE um THE PROCESS FOR THEIR KAHUFACTURE 2 sneeis-sneef. 2

.Fned June e, 196

UIIICG DIZHCS .CIIUHICC Patented Dec. 24, 1968 GLOXIERATE AND THE PROCESS FOR THEIR .jv MANUFACTURE Raymond Lenohle, Rue du Moulin l,

' Gosselies. Belg Filed June 8, 1965, Ser. No. 462,352 Claims priority, application Belgium, .lune 22, 1964, 649.560 1 Claim. (CL 94-1.5)

It is well known that for solving the problems of demarcation, road signs, road traffic and the like, there is a tendency to use reflecting paints. These paints con# sist generally of a mixture of a plastic mass of dyeing pigments and a very special filler formed by spherica glass elements having a very small diameter. These paints are applied upon any carrier and more,

generally upon metallic panels. The luminosity results lum the headlights of vehicles are excellent.

i i However, the applicationeld of such retlecting paints is relatively very restricted owing to the very high vulnerability of such coatings to any mechanical stress.

It is one of the reasons for which the applications have been restricted to posts, i.e. substantially safe from any mechanical stress such as impacts, wear strains, static or dynamic pressure and the like. l'he present invention relates to any product in cement conglomerate having at least one side which is partially or entirely retlecting. v These products in cement conglomerate may be indifferently moulded under the-form of paving-stones,

. slabs, pavement curbs, tratlic panels, elements of indtcating posts for road trafllc and the'like, decorative or ad- -vertising elements,`namely for shop-signs, which may '1 be inserted into a building and the like.

ess used for manufacturing such retlecting products, whatever the shapeand sizes thereof may be.

, The said reflecting products are essentially characterized in that they comprise the combination of two quite diterent'textures, the one in a relatively reduced thick- -lfduced, and the other in a greater thickness, if desired jrenforced, forming the impact mass.

4substantially an intimate mixture of cement. quartz, dye-' parent or retlecting material. The second texture forming the impact mass comprises a conglomerate of any composition known per se in accordance with the shapes,

These masses -are both made intimately integral so as to he inseparable, the assembly forming a combination in which one of the elements is essentially intended to impinging upon it and a good resistance to weather and mechanical stresses, more particularly to frictionY and static and dynamic pressures, whereas the second element forms the proper resistance or impact mass and in accordance with its use. l According to another feature of the invention. the reilecting masses are only disposed locally in the appearing 5.5 faces under duly predetermined shapes; either utilitarian or decorative elements are concerned.

According to still another feature of the invention, the appearing faces having a retlecting mass may be non of such carriers so coated under the luminous rays of ness at right angles with the retlecting faces being proi ing pigments and a proportion of microballs in a transcooperates to give the determined shape to the product Y planar. in a very particular and novel embodiment of REFLECI'ING PRODUCTS IN CEMENT CON- this configuration of the said appearing surfaces of the elements, the reecting masses are disposed only in the recesses in such manner that the main stresses of the said elements would act upon the raised portions, thereby protecting still further the reflecting masses.

According to still another feature of the invention, I complex elements may be readily obtained by embody.4 ding, into a mass carrier, inserts, cabochons, stone fragequivalent or has en equivalent function, may be sub-` stituted for the components described herein.

The proportions of tbe said components are also varyL ing so that those skilled in the art may readily deter- *I relative to the dry material:

l Another object of invention relates to the general procboth factors in accordance with the intended uses. This compromise could apply a rule of inverse proportionality quartz proportion would correspond to an increase of 'the proportion of the small spheres and inversely. lt is apparent that the main components could be admitted with any auxiliary agents selected namely among prod- .ucts generally used in isc technics of the cement con- The rst texture forming the reflecting mass comprises f fare resilient, being made, e.g. of natural or synthetic i s rubber or still of any szitable'plastic material, applying a layer of the said reecting mass upon the bottom of the mould, the thickness of the said layer being itself-"f determined by the very nature of the part being made sizes and uses of reflecting products being manufactured. '7

"provide both a high reflection degree for the light rays I mine the accurate composition of these mixtures in ac-4 oordance with theprodncts being realized, the uses and the expected stresses. This determination is within the current knowledge of those skilled in the art, more particularly those skilled in the art of the manufactured concrete.

By way of infomation, but without any limitation ex- "'A cellent results have been obtained for several products within the following limits which are percents byvweight In addition, a certain relationship may be established i' between the proportions of quartz and small spheres in accordance with the desired luminosity degree or the so that, for instance, a proportional reduction of the The process acrd'mg to the invention for the manufacture nf such luminescent products comprises suhstantially starting from a mould, all or some walls of which and principally by the intended use thereof, subjecting said first mass to a vibrating effect to obtain a close texture, inducing at least a partial drying ofthe said reect- 'Percent by weight i ing mass, but in such manner that the equilibrium thereof be not disrupted, i.e., in such manner that it is not subv iected to any detrimental mechanical stress or any diffcrential pressures, then applying the impact concrete upon the said redecting mass, possibly with the incorporation of reinforcements, this step of the process leading generally to the convencional filling of the mould, subv iecting the so obtained complex mass to a vibrating effect,v

both for drying the tenure of the impact concrete and 3 I A cleaning the appearing surface of the reflecting mass by means of a diluted acid.

According to a feature of the invention, the delicate l step of at least partially drying the reflecting mass after the first step of vibrating will be advantageously carried out by using an absorbing material which will be brought into contact with the said mass being dried.

The final cleaning of the reflecting surface will be ad- I chons or catadioptric parallel strips and the like.

wav of indication without any limitation with It is surprising that the process according to the invention may be rationally carried out mainly with the presence of a resilient material in the moulds at least at right angles with the reflecting surfaces, said resilient material not only protecting the small spheres against squeezing pressures or dangerous mechanical stresses, but allowing also .a normal moulding while defining any projecting Y portions or elements.

. This readiness feature will be still more apparent from the following description of embodiments given only by reference to the attached drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows a plan view of a slab according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II FIGURE 3 shows a perspective view ofa pavingstone 'si v.according to the invention;

FIGURE 4 shows a longitudinal section of another embodiment of a paving-stone according to the invention;

- FIGURE 5 s hows a plane view of another embodiment* of a paving-stone or slab according to the invention;

j 4 carriage roads or any similar uses. upper face could be advantageously provided so that the reflecting elements get mental stresses.

As represented in FIGURE 4, a first means comprises providing the appearing face of the element with a non planar shape, e.g. a corrugated profile.

In such embodiment, even when the retlecting elements provided at the top of, the corrugations are effected,

broken or removed hy impacts, pressure effects or the like, the reflecting tifect will be maintained in the bottom of the recesses. For that purpose, the said portion of I the element will be preferably conditioned in such man-"'"". ner that the projecting portions present n maximum re- Y sistance. a

FIGURES 5 and 6 shovt such embodiment in whichxl' v projecting parallel ribs 5 having a good resistance are from the 'reflecting surface 1.

These projections may -be made of a material identical to that of mass 2 or still of materials having a greater A i hardness or a higher resistance to wear, impacts or any" other stress. The said projections 5 may have any suitable shape and size. Another embodiment of such rafter pro- .i t l I jections S with very hard inserts is represented in FIG- Ukrs r and s. As represented in FIGURES 9 and to, these projections could also consist of cabochons v6 in any suitable material forming or non-forming a mass integral with the resistance mass 2. As represented in FIGURE Il, the cabochons 6 may be also formed by L i I nail heads 7 like the nails used in the pedestrian cross-l ing of the carriage roads. v

er FIGURE metallic like.

FIGURE 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of FIGUREv 5; FIGURE 7 shows a plane view of another embodiment of a paving-stone or slab according to the invention;

FIGURE 11 shows a section of another embodiment of l paving-stone or slab according to FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII of FIG-V FIGURE 9 shows plane view of another embodiment of a paving-stone or slab according to the invention;

FIGURE l0 is n section on the line X-X of FIGURE FIGURE 12 shows a plane view of another embodiment of a paving-stone or slab according to the invenu Vtion;

FIGURE 13 is s I FIGURE I4 shows a cross section of a mould nsin the process of the invention for the manufacture of a paving-stone or slab according to FIGURE I3;

FIGURE 15 shows a cross section cf a mould during i u' of paving-stones or slabs according to FIGURE 13;

FIGURE 16 shows a cross section of a mould using the process of the invention for the manufacture cf paving-stones or slabs according to FIGURES l2 and i3;

FIGURE I7 is a diagram representing the distribu- -tion of the 'components of the products according to the invention.

- The reecting layer I and the bottom layer 2 are seen systematically in all the represented embodiments. More particularly, FIGURES l and 2 show a slab or tile the i appearing face of which is divided by grooves 3-4. FIG- URE 3 shows a perspective view of a paving-stone which may be used, e.g. for demarcating lines, footpat'aes on As inserts for the said projecting portions or the'srrid cabochons, very hard elements may be, for instance, embedded in the bottom layer 2, the said elements being l formed by stone fragments or elements of hardened glass,

elements, elements of plastic material and the,

Complex projecting elementsicould be also used as represented in FIGURES 1:1., 13 and r4. For the: pur- 1 pose, cabochons are formed, e.g. by starting from a special A mould 8 having a cavity 9 designed in accordance wrh the cabochons being provided. A very resistant element 10 e.g. a rock fragment, is disposed in such cavity and the space outlined by the wall of the cavity 9 and the cofspondng Portion of the said element 10 is filled t i with a binder 1l which is also very hard and which is made of natural or synthetic material. Arty suitable' rock fragments 10 and binders ll may be used.

section on the line of FIG-` the manufacture of cabochons used in the manufacture v After stripping, these elements 10-11 are setup in any v suitable manner in the bottom layer 2 of a plate, a paving- `stone, or slab or a tile while traversing the reflecting layer l and projecting therefrom. In fact, the projecting por- Y' tions of the reflecting materials according to the inven-.

tion may he generally provided in any suitable shape.

t Die process of this invention may be carried out very simply in that, as represented in FIGURE. l5, there isused a two part mould, the bottom 12 of which is made of' a plastic material and is essentially provided to define' the layer 1 of the reflecting mass. 'I'he body 13 of the mould may be made of n hard material. It rests upon the said bottom 12 and it is subsequently filled with the bottom layer 2. The composite mass filling the said mould may be then subjected to any stress considered as being suitable by those skilled in the art, such as a pressing,

ramming, vibrating effect or the like or even several of these stresses.

After a sufficient setting,- the material with a reflecting n y face may be readily stripped and left for allowing the Lem.

setting process of the binder to go on. The very charaej teristical presence of the bottom in resilient material l2 allows or promotes the production of any projecting parts.

In facr as represented in FIGURE 16, it should be noted that a material as complex as that represented by way of example in FIGURES l2, 13 and 14 would be vety readily produced.

For that purpose; the

the best protection against detri- 5 s- The components will be readily selected by those skilled References Cite l in the art, for instance when considering a diagram aei UNWED grATES PATENTS cording to the non-limitative example represented in FlG- Y URE l? wherein any ordinate X-Y corresponds to a s determined percentage of the areas a-b-c relating respec- 5 1'619733 3/1927 kpson 9.1 5 Y tively to the rock fragments, generally quartz, the small 629:15 511x927 Tone 9 15 x Simms and hc binde 2,216,250 itt/i940 Nelson 94- 5 The invention covers any reflecting product so obtained, 246,898 6,1194] Sayre 94 5 as wel! as the process for their manufacture. 1760581 8;]956 Tommi', 94 15 X The invention relates as well as to the reflecting prodt0 3 005790 jij/196| wym, d a] 94 5 X ucts under any shape and size as to the process used for 3,225,123 12/ 1965 Wiswell 94--L5 the industrial manufacture of these products. c* 3,215,051 ll/1965 -Gill e. ..-Q4-1.5

Whatlclaim is: l Y 1. kneeling produns for roads, comprising a bottom 15 miur-'GN PATENTS 'c layer consisting of a cement conglomerate and a reflect- 63849 3/196" Canada* i i ing mass constituting a top layer and consisting of a 1155779 5/1958' fran ,Y

' thorough mixture of cement, finely divided hard rock, )ACOB L NACKENOFF Prima, Emmi-en glass spheres and dyeing pigments, said reflecting mass L 'having an outer reflecting surface provided with locally 20 U S CL X R projecting portions made of rock fragments, 94-7, l5 i 

1. REFLECTING PRODUCTS FOR ROADS, COMPRISING A BOTTOM LAYER CONSISTING OF A CEMENT CONGLOMERATE AND A REFLECTING MEANS CONSTITUTING A TOP LAYER AND CONSISTING OF A THOROUGH MIXTURE OF CEMENT, FINELY DIVIDED HARD ROCK, GLASS SPHERES AND DYEING PIGMENTS, SAID REFLECTING MASS 